What Happens when you have to manage Abortion and Postpartum Depression as a Psychiatric Nurse? Nina's Birth Story, Part 1

Today’s show features a guest that can give us some perspective on the current climate around two important topics: abortion and postpartum depression. She’s a psychiatric nurse practitioner, who experienced an abortion in the 1970s and peripartum and postpartum depression in the 1990s. She’s written about her experience. In a piece, titled “No Stranger”. Here are some excerpts from her writing. First, she writes:

“How do you know?” the patient might ask. I lean forward a bit in my

office chair, a magic mix of science and empathy, or so I would like to

think. The woman sitting across from me may be dabbing at her eyes

with her fingers. If her nails are chewed to bloody shreds, I will fold my

own more tightly in my lap.

“I’ve been a nurse practitioner for a long time,” I will say. “More

women than you think go through this. It’s hormonal…”

And a little later in the piece she writes:

Early on I figured that postpartum depression was

a risk for me, but expected I could balance my emotional happiness and

stability against my physiological tendency towards clinical depression,

if I was ever so lucky as to get pregnant. And besides, I was a

professional. With training and resources.

So here’s the thing with training and resources: Depression robs

you of the clarity to use any of those skills or supports.

Let's get to her story
For extended show notes, see: https://warstoriesfromthewomb.com/

This is a weekly show that highlights real pregnancy, birth & postpartum stories.